Student traditions that are Boilermaker rites of passage

1. Crossing the Tracks

The train is gone, but the old Purdue Railroad lives on in our hearts. Since 2008, as incoming freshmen arrive on campus for Boiler Gold Rush, participants jump across a 30-foot replica of the train tracks formerly located between Stanley Coulter and Wetherill Halls. While students jump southward across the tracks to symbolize the start of their studies at Purdue, they close the circle by marching northward toward Elliott Hall of Music on commencement day. 

2. Greek Life

Today, Purdue has one of the largest Greek systems in the country. Close to one in five Purdue students are part of a sorority, fraternity, or other cooperative housing system. It wasn’t always that way. The Greek system got off to a famously rocky start at Purdue. President Emerson White led the Board of Trustees in an attempt to ban the organizations from campus. The case eventually wound up at the Indiana Supreme Court and ended in White’s resignation in 1883.

3. Boiler Gold Rush (BGR)

Boiler Gold Rush dates back to 1993. First known as Corn Camp, it included only a few residence halls at the outset. In 1995, it was renamed Boiler Gold Rush and expanded to include all incoming freshmen. More than 7,000 incoming students participated in 2018. Not only did they get to know Purdue’s campus, they also broke the Guinness record for the most people simultaneously blowing a train whistle.

4. Carving Your Name in a Table at Harry’s

While a little less official than walking across the stage at Elliott Hall, nothing immortalizes your time at Purdue quite like carving your name into a table at Harry’s Chocolate Shop. Opened in 1919 as a soda fountain, it has been beloved by Boilermakers for generations as the quintessential campus bar.

5. Paper Planes

During commencement, each dean presents the candidates to the president of the University. When the students in the College of Aeronautics and Astronautics are instructed to stand, dozens of paper planes fill the air above their heads. The longstanding tradition passed down from class to class has evolved into a competition to see who can get their plane to land the farthest upstage. The resulting creativity of construction has yielded elaborate wing folds and added weight to improve aerodynamics, features that are appreciated by the commencement staffers who pick up all the planes littering the stage in preparation for the next ceremony. 

6. Hanging in a Hammock Near the Union

After a long, cold winter, there’s nothing like hanging your hammock in the shade, enjoying a good book, or maybe just eavesdropping on conversations from people passing on the sidewalk. The trees around Purdue Memorial Union and around the Purdue Mall Water Sculpture are strong favorites among students.

7. Breakfast Club

Walking through the Village before a home football game, you’re likely to encounter a whole cast of costumed characters, whether Disney princesses, the Jolly Green Giant, or Mario and Luigi. Students don Halloween costumes and hit the bars early in the morning, often wearing their getups to the football game later in the day. A student manager of the now defunct Pete’s Bar and Grill on Northwestern Avenue (now the site of the West Lafayette Public Library) is credited with starting this tradition in the mid-1980s.

8. Nap in the Union

When you only have an hour or two between classes, why bother walking all the way back to your residence hall or apartment? Get some shuteye on the various couches strewn throughout the first floor of the Purdue Memorial Union. Named one of the top 10 napping locations on campus, it’s likely to have at least a few sleepy students catching some Zs just about anytime you walk through the building.

9. Big Man on Campus

Zeta Tau Alpha’s annual Big Man on Campus philanthropy event showcases a variety of talents from across the Greek and cooperative housing communities. Student groups put on performances ranging from magic shows to skits to lip-syncing. The 2019 event raised $109,849 for breast cancer research.